Foster Youth Series EP 2 - Three to Nine Overnight: One Foster Parent’s Journey

In this episode, Amanda Gingerich and Maurica Manibusan welcome Maria Guzman, a foster parent whose journey began overnight when she was asked to take in six young girls ranging in age from newborn to eleven years old. What started as a call to help family quickly became a life‑changing experience for Maria, her husband, and their teenage son, transforming a household of three into a household of nine.

Maria shares what it truly looks like to become a foster parent without warning: preparing her home, navigating licensing, enrolling children in school, managing finances, attending medical appointments, coordinating long‑distance family visits, and building trust with children who arrived with trauma, fear, and little sense of stability. She speaks candidly about the emotional weight of fostering loving children, knowing they may not stay forever, and the difficult balance of preparing to let go while still showing up fully every day.

Through her story, Maria highlights the rewards that make it all worthwhile: watching children grow in confidence, try new activities like sports and cheer, feel safe enough to trust again, and begin to believe in themselves. This episode offers listeners an honest, compassionate look at foster parenting not as an abstract system, but as a lived, daily commitment to love, structure, and hope.

Highlights

• Maria explains how she became a foster parent overnight after being asked to take in six sisters.
• Transitioning from a family of three to a household of nine, including a newborn.
• Preparing a small home to meet placement and licensing requirements.
• Navigating the foster care licensing process and home inspections.
• Enrolling five children in school and working with educators during major transitions.
• Managing finances, food costs, clothing, and extracurricular activities without extra support.
• Supporting children through trauma, boundaries, and adjustment to structure.
• Coordinating long‑distance family visitation twice a month.
• The emotional challenge of attachment and the possibility of reunification or removal.
• Building trust through routine, family meals, prayer, consistency, and presence.
• The joy of seeing children grow in confidence, self‑esteem, and happiness.
• Maria’s heartfelt advice to others considering foster parenting.

Takeaways

• Foster parenting often begins unexpectedly and requires immediate flexibility.
• Love, routine, and consistency help children feel safe after instability.
• Financial and emotional challenges are real, but community support matters.
• Children thrive when treated as full members of the family.
• Attachment is both the hardest and most meaningful part of fostering.
• Reunification is the ultimate goal, even when it’s emotionally difficult.
• Foster parenting isn’t about recognition or compensation, it’s about impact.
• Small wins—confidence, joy, and belonging are the greatest rewards.

Thanks for listening! Follow us on Facebook and Instagram | www.cahelp.org | podcast@cahelp.org

Transcript

00:00:09 Intro 

The relentless pursuit of whatever works in the life of a child. 

00:00:18 Intro 

Welcome to Fostering Futures with CA Help, a podcast dedicated to our relentless pursuit of whatever works in the life of a child. 

00:00:26 Intro 

I'm your host, Athena Cordero, inviting you to join me and countless others as we share our unique perspectives and expertise in the world of special education, behavioral health, social-emotional well-being, and community. 

00:00:39 Intro 

Follow us on Buzzsprout, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts. 

00:00:45 Amanda Gingerich 

Hi, welcome back to Fostering Futures. 

00:00:47 Amanda Gingerich 

My name is Amanda Gingerich, and we are filling in today for Athena Cordero. 

00:00:52 Amanda Gingerich 

You have myself and Maurica Manibusan. 

00:00:56 Maurica Manibusan 

Hello, everyone. 

00:00:58 Maurica Manibusan 

It's great to be here today with our guests. 

00:01:01 Maurica Manibusan 

So excited to share some new information on this particularly very important topic. 

00:01:08 Amanda Gingerich 

Today, we have Maria Guzman here with us, and we are going to speak about what it is to be a foster parent. 

00:01:14 Amanda Gingerich 

Welcome, Maria. 

00:01:15 Maria Guzman 

Thank you. 

00:01:16 Maria Guzman 

Good morning. 

00:01:18 Maurica Manibusan 

Well, thank you for joining us, Maria. 

00:01:20 Maurica Manibusan 

So we're really excited, like I said, to learn from you and your experiences. 

00:01:25 Maurica Manibusan 

We believe that this information, you're going to provide us some really valuable insights for our listeners about being a foster parent. 

00:01:33 Maurica Manibusan 

So why don't we start at the beginning? 

00:01:36 Amanda Gingerich 

You want to tell us a little bit about how you became a foster parent? 

00:01:41 Maria Guzman 

I became a foster parent because I was contacted by a family member saying that they needed my help in taking over 6 girls. 

00:01:54 Maria Guzman 

And I agree because what matters to me most is taking care of the kids. 

00:02:01 Maria Guzman 

So I took in newborn, a four-year-old, a six-year-old, eight-year-old, nine-year-old, and an 11-year-old. 

00:02:12 Amanda Gingerich 

That's A lot. 

00:02:14 Maria Guzman 

Yes, it was a big change for my family and I, but. 

00:02:18 Maurica Manibusan 

And you're a household of. 

00:02:21 Maria Guzman 

There's three in my family. 

00:02:23 Maria Guzman 

So with six and the three of us, we have nine right now. 

00:02:28 Maurica Manibusan 

Wow. 

00:02:29 Maria Guzman 

There's nine of us. 

00:02:32 Maurica Manibusan 

So when you first stepped into that role of becoming a foster parent, and what expectations did you have about supporting 

00:02:42 Maurica Manibusan 

The kids or their child's educational journey you mentioned some were eight-year-old And so what did that look like for you having your own household of three already and having to prepare your home? 

00:02:56 Maurica Manibusan 

for six incoming kids How did you prepare yourself mentally emotionally just in total? 

00:03:04 Maria Guzman 

Mentally and emotionally was a bit of a challenge because I wasn't ready for that 

00:03:12 Maria Guzman 

But when I first got them was over the summer, so it gave me a little bit of time to get to know them, prepare for school, for everything that we had to do together as a new family. 

00:03:25 Amanda Gingerich 

How did you get your home ready for them to come? 

00:03:29 Maria Guzman 

Well, that was a challenge because I had to come up with a plan to get a room ready to have five kids, five girls in one room, 

00:03:40 Maria Guzman 

plus a baby in my room. 

00:03:42 Maria Guzman 

So I had to buy the bunk beds, the toddler beds, everything to have a room ready for them. 

00:03:51 Maurica Manibusan 

So, you know, bringing in six additional family members, that's a lot financially. 

00:03:59 Maurica Manibusan 

Did you have any, like, supports and services by other agencies to help guide you in this process, or was this something you had inherited all alone? 

00:04:09 Maurica Manibusan 

that you had to navigate yourself. 

00:04:11 Maria Guzman 

I had to do it all alone. 

00:04:13 Maria Guzman 

I did not have any support coming in because at the time, I wasn't licensed. 

00:04:18 Maria Guzman 

So I did not have any financial support coming in. 

00:04:24 Maria Guzman 

I have a lot of good friends in my community. 

00:04:27 Maria Guzman 

My coworkers also helped me. 

00:04:29 Maria Guzman 

So that made a big difference because financially, it was all up to my husband and I. 

00:04:34 Maria Guzman 

We did not have any support till 

00:04:37 Maria Guzman 

after two months when I would be licensed as a foster parent. 

00:04:43 Maurica Manibusan 

So you mentioned licensing. 

00:04:44 Maurica Manibusan 

What was that process like? 

00:04:46 Maurica Manibusan 

So how, who connected you to learning about how to go about getting licensed, you know, because you took the kids on. 

00:04:54 Maurica Manibusan 

Somebody had to have connected you to the agency. 

00:04:58 Maurica Manibusan 

Who connected you and what was that process like? 

00:05:02 Maria Guzman 

The county where the kids came from connected me. 

00:05:06 Maria Guzman 

And then San Bernardino County reached out to me. 

00:05:11 Maria Guzman 

They sent me all the information through e-mail. 

00:05:15 Maria Guzman 

I did the application. 

00:05:17 Maria Guzman 

I did everything. 

00:05:19 Maria Guzman 

The process wasn't hard. 

00:05:21 Maria Guzman 

It wasn't hard at all to become a foster parent. 

00:05:24 Maria Guzman 

I just had to do a long application, which is kind of time-consuming, but it's not hard. 

00:05:29 Maria Guzman 

And then a worker came to the house, inspected the house again, 

00:05:35 Maria Guzman 

And she interviewed my husband and I. 

00:05:40 Maria Guzman 

And then from there, we had to go through the process of being fingerprinted, our references, and checking, make sure everything that I had written down on my application was through. 

00:05:54 Maria Guzman 

And that's all. 

00:05:55 Amanda Gingerich 

Did they do a home inspection? 

00:05:57 Maria Guzman 

They did. 

00:05:58 Maria Guzman 

They did one, the agency, the county that placed the girls in my care did a home inspection. 

00:06:05 Maria Guzman 

And then San Bernardino County did another home inspection. 

00:06:10 Maria Guzman 

And that was all they did. 

00:06:14 Maurica Manibusan 

So you mentioned it was two months later that you became licensed. 

00:06:19 Maurica Manibusan 

So it sounds like the process was a little long. 

00:06:22 Maurica Manibusan 

How long in total, from the time you started the application to through the inspection and through actually getting licensed, was that like a two, three-month period, would you say? 

00:06:33 Maria Guzman 

I would say it was like two months. 

00:06:36 Maurica Manibusan 

Two months. 

00:06:36 Maria Guzman 

Two months. 

00:06:38 Maria Guzman 

It wasn't as bad. 

00:06:40 Maria Guzman 

It was about two months because my home had to be approved because I had six kids in my care. 

00:06:49 Maria Guzman 

So at the beginning, it was hard because it was too many. 

00:06:52 Maria Guzman 

San Bernardino County only wanted to allow five. 

00:06:56 Maurica Manibusan 

I see. 

00:06:57 Maurica Manibusan 

So if you don't mind me asking, is your home like a three-bedroom, four-bedroom, two-bath home? 

00:07:03 Maria Guzman 

We have a three bedroom, one bath home. 

00:07:06 Maurica Manibusan 

Wow. 

00:07:08 Maurica Manibusan 

I can see the challenge there, just in my house. 

00:07:10 Maria Guzman 

It was challenging because I have my son in one room, then we have 5 girls in one room, and then my husband, the baby, and I in another room. 

00:07:19 Maurica Manibusan 

Wow. 

00:07:19 Maurica Manibusan 

That's just crazy. 

00:07:21 Maurica Manibusan 

Crazy. 

00:07:22 Amanda Gingerich 

And you said that they joined your family during the summertime. 

00:07:25 Amanda Gingerich 

How was it with getting them enrolled in school? 

00:07:28 Amanda Gingerich 

Because right now, school's going on, and you have four girls in school or five girls in school. 

00:07:32 Maria Guzman 

I have five girls in school. 

00:07:34 Maria Guzman 

So getting them enrolled in school was a little bit of a challenge because the school required a lot of paperwork, and I had to provide proof and then 

00:07:47 Maria Guzman 

It was back and forth. 

00:07:49 Maria Guzman 

It was back and forth until they finally took all five in. 

00:07:55 Maurica Manibusan 

Okay. 

00:07:56 Maurica Manibusan 

So working with the educators in the school system with your five girls, how would you describe the relationship that you built with the school team, like their teachers, their counselors, to help them in their educational setting? 

00:08:12 Maurica Manibusan 

It must have been 

00:08:14 Maurica Manibusan 

you know, they're coming into a new home, so they're going through some pretty drastic changes. 

00:08:21 Maurica Manibusan 

I mean, it's great that you're a relative and all, so having family, it seems that it would be an easy transition, but it's a new home. 

00:08:29 Maurica Manibusan 

And so how would you say, how did you build your relationship with the school and the teachers to help support your girls' transition? 

00:08:40 Maria Guzman 

Well, for the girls coming into my home was a challenge because I have some rules. 

00:08:48 Maria Guzman 

So they were not used to following some of the rules. 

00:08:51 Maria Guzman 

So that was a bit of a challenge. 

00:08:54 Maria Guzman 

And then with the school, luckily, I know a lot of the people that work at the school. 

00:08:59 Maria Guzman 

So they were very helpful. 

00:09:01 Maria Guzman 

They helped me a lot. 

00:09:02 Maria Guzman 

I know the teachers. 

00:09:03 Maria Guzman 

I know the office staff. 

00:09:06 Maria Guzman 

So that wasn't as bad as the girls adjusting to the rules at the home. 

00:09:12 Maurica Manibusan 

Oh, interesting. 

00:09:12 Maurica Manibusan 

So it sounds like they were doing okay academically, but they were testing your rules, pushing the envelope just a little bit in the house. 

00:09:19 Maria Guzman 

Exactly. 

00:09:20 Maria Guzman 

They just wanted to see how far they could get, what they could get away with. 

00:09:26 Maurica Manibusan 

I can reach a child, probably. 

00:09:28 Amanda Gingerich 

So obviously there's some challenges. 

00:09:31 Amanda Gingerich 

What do you think were some of the hardest challenges, and how did you overcome them, like within your household? 

00:09:37 Maria Guzman 

The hardest one is for them, for the girls, following the rules, knowing how to behave in public, because there's so many of us now. 

00:09:47 Maria Guzman 

Anytime we go somewhere, it's a challenge. 

00:09:50 Maria Guzman 

It's still a challenge. 

00:09:51 Maria Guzman 

At the beginning, it was extremely hard because they had no boundaries, they had no rules. 

00:09:58 Maria Guzman 

is wanted to do whatever they want. 

00:10:01 Maria Guzman 

And they would be a little bit… 

00:10:03 Maria Guzman 

I had a challenge with two of the girls, I would say, the four-year-old and the eight-year-old. 

00:10:09 Maria Guzman 

Those were my biggest challenge. 

00:10:11 Maria Guzman 

The other three were not as bad. 

00:10:15 Amanda Gingerich 

And I think a challenge for you is probably you're having a three-month-old, just so everybody's listening. 

00:10:21 Amanda Gingerich 

The three-month-old is with us. 

00:10:23 Amanda Gingerich 

An additional guest. 

00:10:23 Amanda Gingerich 

An additional guest. 

00:10:24 Amanda Gingerich 

She's with us and she just woke up. 

00:10:26 Amanda Gingerich 

So if you hear in the background, she's talking and she's cooing, so she's a happy baby. 

00:10:31 Amanda Gingerich 

But for yourself, not having a newborn and going from older children to now having extremely young children, I'm sure it's challenging for you and your husband with the car seat, strollers. 

00:10:44 Amanda Gingerich 

That's something that you haven't done in a while, and then all of a sudden, overnight, you have a newborn. 

00:10:49 Maria Guzman 

Yes, it was, getting the newborn was, it was hard. 

00:10:53 Maria Guzman 

It was scary. 

00:10:56 Maria Guzman 

It was challenging because I'm always scared with a newborn. 

00:11:00 Maria Guzman 

I don't know. 

00:11:01 Maria Guzman 

So I had to be extra careful with her. 

00:11:03 Maria Guzman 

She was so small when I first got her. 

00:11:05 Maria Guzman 

She was only about two weeks old when I first got her. 

00:11:09 Maurica Manibusan 

Newborn. 

00:11:10 Maria Guzman 

And she 

00:11:12 Maria Guzman 

came from a background of many bad things, I would say. 

00:11:17 Maria Guzman 

So then my husband and I had to be extra careful. 

00:11:22 Maria Guzman 

My son, but we overcame it. 

00:11:25 Maria Guzman 

She's here. 

00:11:26 Maria Guzman 

She's already four months and she's a happy baby. 

00:11:29 Maurica Manibusan 

Yeah, she's cooing down there. 

00:11:33 Maurica Manibusan 

So you mentioned your son and you are a family of three, bringing in six. 

00:11:38 Maurica Manibusan 

What was the transition like for your own son? 

00:11:41 Maurica Manibusan 

You didn't mention, how old is your son. 

00:11:43 Maria Guzman 

My son's 15. 

00:11:45 Maurica Manibusan 

Oh, that must have been a huge transition. 

00:11:47 Maurica Manibusan 

He became a big brother like overnight. 

00:11:50 Maria Guzman 

Overnight, he had six sisters. 

00:11:57 Maria Guzman 

My son has been very good to the whole situation. 

00:12:02 Maria Guzman 

He has been very good and supportive since the beginning. 

00:12:05 Maria Guzman 

He helped A lot. 

00:12:06 Maria Guzman 

He's been helping with the girls. 

00:12:09 Maria Guzman 

The girls love him. 

00:12:10 Maria Guzman 

And it's been really good. 

00:12:12 Maria Guzman 

We haven't had any issues. 

00:12:14 Maria Guzman 

He's been doing very good. 

00:12:18 Maurica Manibusan 

What a wonderful example to set and to role model for your son to expand your household so willingly and to take in six, six kids. 

00:12:29 Maurica Manibusan 

It's beautiful, Maria. 

00:12:31 Maria Guzman 

Thank you. 

00:12:31 Maurica Manibusan 

Beautiful. 

00:12:35 Amanda Gingerich 

And the foster kiddos that are in your house, the placement, do you have visitation with the biological parents at all? 

00:12:44 Maria Guzman 

They have visitation twice a month. 

00:12:49 Maria Guzman 

So every other week we go. 

00:12:51 Maria Guzman 

That is a part that's a little bit of a challenge for us because we live far from where they came from. 

00:12:57 Maria Guzman 

So every other week we have to drive 5 hours. 

00:13:02 Maria Guzman 

there and five hours back. 

00:13:05 Amanda Gingerich 

That's a long. 

00:13:07 Amanda Gingerich 

How do the girls do it? 

00:13:09 Amanda Gingerich 

That's a really long. 

00:13:10 Maria Guzman 

The first visit we had, it was extremely hard, very challenging, because it was probably, I would say, about two weeks after I got them. 

00:13:22 Maria Guzman 

So the baby was barely a month old, and then the girls were not used to traveling that far. 

00:13:29 Maria Guzman 

So it was a challenge. 

00:13:32 Maria Guzman 

They didn't want to sit down. 

00:13:33 Maria Guzman 

They were tired. 

00:13:34 Maria Guzman 

They want to get down. 

00:13:35 Maria Guzman 

They were just, how long is it? 

00:13:38 Maria Guzman 

Now they're used to it. 

00:13:40 Maria Guzman 

Now they actually enjoy it. 

00:13:41 Maria Guzman 

They're like, oh, okay, we're going. 

00:13:42 Maria Guzman 

And we just go and come twice a month. 

00:13:46 Maria Guzman 

Wow. 

00:13:48 Maurica Manibusan 

That must be tough for the girls, you know, just being in a home with you, your husband and your son, feeling loved and supported. 

00:13:58 Maurica Manibusan 

knowing that they too have their own, their biological family and having to be brought there. 

00:14:03 Maurica Manibusan 

That must be difficult, I think, emotionally, even for young kids, not understanding why they're not in their home with their own parents. 

00:14:12 Maurica Manibusan 

And even for you yourself, I'm not too familiar with the whole foster placement system, but like how long do the kids get placed with you? 

00:14:24 Maurica Manibusan 

And what are the chances that they're going to be moved? 

00:14:28 Maurica Manibusan 

for me as a foster parent, if I became one, I'd grow an attachment and I'd be devastated if I lost them, if they were moved. 

00:14:37 Maria Guzman 

That's what we're facing right now, because for now I have them six months. 

00:14:43 Maria Guzman 

So it's going to be probably around February that we might lose them. 

00:14:48 Maria Guzman 

And then 

00:14:52 Maria Guzman 

I become attached to the baby so much, that's going to be a hard challenge. 

00:14:56 Maria Guzman 

That's going to be extremely hard when they take them away. 

00:14:59 Maria Guzman 

I can't, I have to mentally prepare myself to take them in, and now I have to mentally prepare myself to let them go, because that's going to be challenging. 

00:15:11 Maurica Manibusan 

What would be the reasons, if you can tell our audience for, like, maybe counting who placed them with you, other than maybe the return to the biological parents, 

00:15:21 Maurica Manibusan 

What are the types of reasons that they would move the child from one home? 

00:15:26 Maurica Manibusan 

If you want to share that with the audience. 

00:15:28 Maria Guzman 

They would move that child from my home if I requested for them to be moved from my home. 

00:15:35 Maria Guzman 

The other reason I would say is if another family member became licensed and they lived closer to the mom, they might move them. 

00:15:46 Maurica Manibusan 

I see. 

00:15:46 Maria Guzman 

But it also depends on how the girls are doing. 

00:15:50 Maria Guzman 

how everything's going. 

00:15:52 Maria Guzman 

And so far, the girls are doing extremely well. 

00:15:56 Maurica Manibusan 

So in this six-month period, and you're saying they could move them, right? 

00:16:00 Maurica Manibusan 

Do they come in and they inspect? 

00:16:02 Maurica Manibusan 

Do you provide reports to them? 

00:16:04 Maurica Manibusan 

How do they monitor the kids' adjustment to the new home setting with you? 

00:16:12 Maria Guzman 

They come in every month. 

00:16:13 Maurica Manibusan 

Wow. 

00:16:14 Maria Guzman 

They come in every month. 

00:16:16 Maria Guzman 

They talk to the girls. 

00:16:18 Maria Guzman 

They talk to me. 

00:16:20 Maria Guzman 

That's every month that they come in. 

00:16:22 Maurica Manibusan 

So they're regularly interviewing and assessing the placement. 

00:16:26 Maurica Manibusan 

I see. 

00:16:26 Maria Guzman 

One thing I forgot to mention is when you become a foster parent, when the kids get placed in a home, we have to get a doctor's appointment within a month and they have to get a doctor's appointment. 

00:16:42 Maria Guzman 

They got to be at physicals and all that. 

00:16:44 Maria Guzman 

So that was challenging because getting a doctor's appointment and a dentist appointment. 

00:16:49 Maurica Manibusan 

Very difficult. 

00:16:50 Maria Guzman 

Yes, and then for six. 

00:16:53 Maria Guzman 

So I had to make a lot of trips back and forth to the doctor. 

00:16:57 Maurica Manibusan 

So there is a criteria. 

00:16:59 Maurica Manibusan 

So when you're submitting your application in and you're going through the process, this two-month application process. 

00:17:05 Maurica Manibusan 

and you made the cut, you're screened in, you made the cut. 

00:17:09 Maurica Manibusan 

They do have a checklist of their own personal requirements or their county requirements, rather, that you as a foster parent have to meet. 

00:17:17 Maurica Manibusan 

Like, for example, set their appointments, get their regular physicals, their dental appointments, anything else other than that that you're required to do, that county requires you as the foster parent to do. 

00:17:30 Maria Guzman 

No, that was the only requirement I had. 

00:17:32 Maurica Manibusan 

So when we say county, what agency are you talking about that comes in so our audience kind of knows who's the agency that placed your foster kids and who is this that's coming in to inspect your home and evaluate how the kids are doing. 

00:17:49 Maria Guzman 

Do you mean like a social worker? 

00:17:50 Maurica Manibusan 

Yes. 

00:17:50 Maurica Manibusan 

Is it like from San Bernardino? 

00:17:53 Maria Guzman 

No, they come from Merced County. 

00:17:55 Maurica Manibusan 

Merced. 

00:17:56 Maurica Manibusan 

They drive all the way down. 

00:17:57 Maria Guzman 

They drive all the way here. 

00:17:58 Maurica Manibusan 

Wow. 

00:17:59 Maria Guzman 

They come from Merced County once a month. 

00:18:03 Maria Guzman 

And from what the lady said, we have other kids from Rosa County around the area too. 

00:18:08 Maria Guzman 

So I thought I was the only one, but apparently not. 

00:18:11 Maria Guzman 

We have more. 

00:18:12 Amanda Gingerich 

Interesting. 

00:18:14 Amanda Gingerich 

That's a long drive. 

00:18:15 Amanda Gingerich 

So they're making a drive out here once a month and then you're driving out there twice a month. 

00:18:18 Maria Guzman 

Exactly. 

00:18:21 Amanda Gingerich 

What? 

00:18:21 Amanda Gingerich 

So with having the girls and the baby and everything, what is the most rewarding part of you being a foster parent? 

00:18:32 Maria Guzman 

For me, it has been 

00:18:33 Maria Guzman 

how I've seen them overcome some fears they had, how I've seen them build self-confidence. 

00:18:42 Maria Guzman 

They're confident of doing things, of going places, talking to people, because I have some, I have one that plays soccer, which she had never done it. 

00:18:54 Maria Guzman 

I have two others that are in cheer at school, so they're all excited, and 

00:19:01 Maria Guzman 

because their self-esteem was so low, and now see them grow and become confident and be happy and, oh, thank you. 

00:19:11 Maria Guzman 

You helped me do this. 

00:19:13 Maria Guzman 

That's my reward. 

00:19:15 Maurica Manibusan 

She agrees down there. 

00:19:18 Maurica Manibusan 

She's totally in agreement. 

00:19:20 Maurica Manibusan 

So it sounds like you put in some practices, like, to help build their self-esteem and their confidence. 

00:19:29 Maurica Manibusan 

and putting them in cheer, allowing them to experience soccer. 

00:19:34 Maurica Manibusan 

These are all strategies that you put into place to help these kids build confidence to aspire for more. 

00:19:42 Maurica Manibusan 

That's great, Maria. 

00:19:43 Maria Guzman 

Yes, because when the county, when the social worker came to my home, she's like, oh, they're like your kids. 

00:19:49 Maria Guzman 

Treat them like your kids. 

00:19:52 Maria Guzman 

do everything you would do with your kids. 

00:19:54 Maria Guzman 

I'm like, okay, my kids play sports. 

00:19:56 Maria Guzman 

They're everywhere. 

00:19:56 Maria Guzman 

So they're going to do everything my kids do. 

00:19:59 Maurica Manibusan 

But you know, sporting activities, I have like 4 kids and I remember wanting to put them in these activities and they're not, they're pretty expensive. 

00:20:07 Maurica Manibusan 

You know, if you have one, two, but you have quite a few. 

00:20:11 Maurica Manibusan 

So does county provide that recreational financial support services? 

00:20:16 Maurica Manibusan 

Are there 

00:20:17 Maurica Manibusan 

places that you can receive that assistance to help fund like activities like that, recreational activities for these kids. 

00:20:26 Maria Guzman 

No, county doesn't supply me with anything. 

00:20:29 Maria Guzman 

Whatever they give me monthly for the kids, that's all I get. 

00:20:34 Maria Guzman 

They don't give me anything extra. 

00:20:36 Maria Guzman 

So everything I have to take care of myself. 

00:20:39 Maria Guzman 

There are some agencies that'll help because I got some help for the soccer. 

00:20:44 Maria Guzman 

And then through school, it's not expensive. 

00:20:47 Maria Guzman 

It's only buying the shoes and the club, shorts, whatever they need. 

00:20:51 Maria Guzman 

So it's not as bad. 

00:20:53 Amanda Gingerich 

You say not expensive. 

00:20:54 Amanda Gingerich 

Clothing's expensive. 

00:20:55 Amanda Gingerich 

And especially if they're all growing every month. 

00:20:58 Amanda Gingerich 

I'm sure they're growing out of shoes every month. 

00:21:00 Maria Guzman 

Yes. 

00:21:01 Maria Guzman 

At the beginning, I had asked if I could get some help, but they do not support any. 

00:21:07 Maria Guzman 

They do not provide any help with clothing or anything. 

00:21:11 Amanda Gingerich 

Now it must be hard because you went into a family of three. 

00:21:14 Amanda Gingerich 

to nine and feeding. 

00:21:15 Amanda Gingerich 

How is food? 

00:21:16 Amanda Gingerich 

How are you doing with breakfast, lunch, and dinner? 

00:21:19 Maria Guzman 

That's a challenge because the girls eat like there's no tomorrow. 

00:21:24 Maria Guzman 

They eat so much. 

00:21:26 Maria Guzman 

I tell my husband, I don't know. 

00:21:28 Maria Guzman 

It's kind of scary. 

00:21:29 Maria Guzman 

They eat so much. 

00:21:30 Maria Guzman 

Food is so expensive. 

00:21:32 Maria Guzman 

So whatever support we get, it goes towards food and their clothing, so. 

00:21:38 Amanda Gingerich 

And sports. 

00:21:39 Maurica Manibusan 

And sports, yes. 

00:21:41 Maurica Manibusan 

It sounds like the girls are transitioning pretty well into your home, that you have created a loving environment for them. 

00:21:50 Maurica Manibusan 

I was wondering, it sounds like you really do have a relationship. 

00:21:54 Maurica Manibusan 

How did you work towards building trust? 

00:21:57 Maurica Manibusan 

with with them. 

00:21:59 Maurica Manibusan 

There's six of them. 

00:22:00 Maurica Manibusan 

Well, aside from obviously the love and nurture you do for our little visitor today, but knowing that they knowing that they have experienced instability, they may have been exposed in trauma and you mentioned them not having self-esteem. 

00:22:16 Maurica Manibusan 

How did you build that trust and relationship with them? 

00:22:22 Maria Guzman 

Well, I feel it was we would talk, we 

00:22:26 Maria Guzman 

sit together as a family and have dinner and talk about our day. 

00:22:31 Maria Guzman 

And then for my family, every time they go to bed, we, before we pray, and they started like trusting me, seeing that my home is safe, that we're okay here. 

00:22:43 Maria Guzman 

We're not gonna go anywhere. 

00:22:44 Maria Guzman 

We're gonna stay here. 

00:22:46 Maria Guzman 

So, and then when we go places and I take them with me, I think that made another, 

00:22:55 Maria Guzman 

trust in their life because now they know, okay, she's here for us. 

00:23:00 Maria Guzman 

They're not going to leave us. 

00:23:01 Maria Guzman 

No one's going to take us. 

00:23:02 Maria Guzman 

We're safe. 

00:23:03 Maria Guzman 

We have a whole roof over. 

00:23:06 Maria Guzman 

We have food. 

00:23:07 Maria Guzman 

We have stability. 

00:23:08 Maurica Manibusan 

We have someone who loves us. 

00:23:09 Maria Guzman 

Yes. 

00:23:11 Maurica Manibusan 

That is so heart-wrenching when I think about what you said earlier about the possibility of them being taken away and placed then in another home and all the work you've built into 

00:23:24 Maurica Manibusan 

providing that safe environment for them. 

00:23:28 Maria Guzman 

That is my fear, because I fear that once they leave, they're not going to have any room providing for them. 

00:23:39 Maria Guzman 

I wish they didn't have to go, but I know they're going to have to. 

00:23:44 Maurica Manibusan 

Is there a way that allows you to, like, reapply so that they can be extended? 

00:23:52 Maria Guzman 

They would only be extended. 

00:23:54 Maria Guzman 

If mom does everything that she's required to do, they will go back with mom. 

00:23:59 Maria Guzman 

And I am going to be very happy if they go back with mom. 

00:24:03 Maria Guzman 

What I'm not going to be happy is if they don't go back with mom and they go somewhere else. 

00:24:09 Maria Guzman 

So my goal for them is to be reunited with their mom. 

00:24:14 Maurica Manibusan 

And that's, I think that's really like the whole goal of the program really is to place them, return them, to reunite them with their family and work towards providing a more stable home. 

00:24:27 Maria Guzman 

Yes. 

00:24:27 Maurica Manibusan 

You have such a beautiful heart, Maria. 

00:24:29 Maurica Manibusan 

It's obvious that the audience could hear that in your voice. 

00:24:33 Maurica Manibusan 

It takes special people, really, really special people to do this kind of job. 

00:24:40 Maurica Manibusan 

So I commend you. 

00:24:42 Maurica Manibusan 

I'm sure our audience feels the same. 

00:24:44 Maria Guzman 

Thank you. 

00:24:48 Amanda Gingerich 

Well, with that being said, we'll end on a positive note with Whip. 

00:24:56 Amanda Gingerich 

We are very thankful for having you and our special guest in here as well. 

00:25:01 Amanda Gingerich 

And she's extremely happy. 

00:25:04 Amanda Gingerich 

So we want to thank you very much, Maria, for joining us and walking us through your journey. 

00:25:10 Amanda Gingerich 

of what it takes to be a foster parent. 

00:25:12 Maurica Manibusan 

And I just want to ask one thing. 

00:25:14 Maurica Manibusan 

If there's one thing you want to share with our audience about being a foster parent, what would that be? 

00:25:24 Maria Guzman 

I would say if you have the chance to do it and you come across a situation like mine, do it. 

00:25:32 Maria Guzman 

Don't hesitate, don't overthink it, just do it, because it's rewarding. 

00:25:38 Maria Guzman 

And then seeing what you do for the kids, that's your pay. 

00:25:42 Maria Guzman 

You don't need anything else. 

00:25:45 Maurica Manibusan 

Beautifully said, Maria. 

00:25:46 Maurica Manibusan 

Beautifully said. 

00:25:48 Maurica Manibusan 

Again, I want to thank Maria for coming in and sharing her experience and her story about being a foster parent. 

00:25:56 Maurica Manibusan 

We wish you well, Maria, and thank you so much again for being on our show. 

00:26:02 Maria Guzman 

Thank you for inviting me.